By Mulengera Reporters
Hadn’t Gen Salim Saleh got wind of it and remedially intervened on good time, a top Cabinet Minister had successfully taken advantage of President Museveni’s advanced age to get him authorize the release of $100m (roughly Shs400bn) towards the purchase of 10 acres of land in the Kampala Central’s soggy slums of Kisenyi. The Minister, who has lately been contracting bank loans to facilitate the speculative purchasing of land in Kampala to benefit from recent Presidential directives, claimed to Museveni that veteran Kampala tycoon JB Muwonge has 10 acres of land in Kisenyi each of which must be bought at $10m. This brings the total to $100m which the Minister demanded that Gen Museveni directs the Finance Ministry to promptly release.
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The land is supposed to be used to establish a youth skilling center for the entire Kampala whose jobless and otherwise unemployable youths are supposed to come there to learn vocational skills and go into self-employment. State House sources say that somehow chief power broker Gen Salim Saleh, who Museveni had kept out of the whole thing, got wind of the same and raised a red flag. Saleh told Museveni to immediately pull out of the deal and direct the Finance Ministry not to release the money. Saleh, who had done enough research on the Kisenyi land, reportedly told Museveni the same was going to turn out scandalous similar to what happened with the Basajjabalaba infamous market compensations of more than 10 years ago.
The veteran UPDF General advised his brother to work with Kampala District Land Board to find some way on how to make use of vast chunks of public land that will soon be available after reverting back to KDLB following expiry of leases that had been granted decades ago. The idea is for government to work with the government valuer and compensate some Bibanja owners who might be living on such lands so that they vacate and the same gets used to erect the much-desired youth skilling centers which Gen Museveni currently perceives to be the magic wand to halt youth unemployment in Kampala.
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He also wants 2 new public markets established in each of the 5 Kampala Divisions. At the instigation of Gen Saleh, Museveni subsequently engaged his blue eyed boy Dr. David Balondemu who chairs KDLB. He consulted him about the availability of public land for the skilling centers and the 10 new markets at Division level. Balondemu confirmed to Museveni that land can be found so that the taxpayers’ money doesn’t have to be squandered purchasing the 10 acres of soggy land in Kisenyi at such exorbitant prices of $10m per acre.
This move of leveraging on public land under KDLB will put the same shrewd Minister in even more problems because the Minister has lately been on borrowing spree taking up bank loans, from city banks, to speculatively purchase land which can subsequently exorbitantly be resold to government for the new markets and youth skilling centers. The same Minister, renowned for being very streetwise, has lately been pressurizing the leadership of Natete market vendors’ association imploring them to work with a certain kiwaani landlord who must be presented to the President as the owner of the land so that he can get compensated for the same to be declared KCCA land.
He Natete market vendors’ bosses have since developed cold feet and have since recorded audios of the Minister coaching them on how to fleece the President. The vendors’ leaders have since shared the audio recordings with people close to the President so that Gen Museveni gets to see how crooked some of his Ministers are.
The genuine owner of the Natete land, as was authenticated by IGG Beti Kamya, is none other than Shaka who the shrewd Minister wants to be sidelined because he refused to entertain proposals of having to share up to 40% of the total money government will be paying him as compensation. Shaka’s claim had long been certified by Cabinet as genuine and it was decided that he gets compensated but the shrewd Minister recently summoned him to a meeting in the Ministry offices and assured him he won’t get anything unless he agrees to part with 40% as commission so that the shrewd Minister can help him to keep reminding the President to direct the Finance Ministry to process his compensation.
Shaka has been complicated regarding the need to share the Natete compensation to the extent that recently some people even fronted and backed a one Kamoga who they unsuccessfully presented to the President as the man who must be compensated. Gen Museveni got information that Kamoga doesn’t even have genuine titles to back up his claim and sidelined him from the word go.
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A powerful Minister tried to arm-twist security to escort Kamoga to do boundary opening on the Natete land but the security operatives, emboldened by their boss Kampala RCC Aminah Lukanga, stood their ground asserting it would be illegal and unfair to genuine owner Shaka to allow a stranger to go and survey land which doesn’t belong to him at all. The shrewd powerful Minister’s supporters have since resorted to blackmailing Aminah Lukanga by falsely claiming that she hijacked Shs500m which the President had paid out to appease disgruntled NRM youth league members who used to stage protests outside State House.
Lukanga is the Youth League chairperson for Makindye Division whose Youth League members used to team up with those from the other 4 Kampala Divisions to protest outside Entebbe State House. The fake news peddlers are now claiming that Aminah Lukanga isn’t clean because she was part of the 5 Youth League Chairpersons who hijacked a total of Shs2.5bn the President had released with each Division being entitled to Shs500m. The other propaganda or chemical being used to revenge against Aminah Lukanga’s patriotic stand on the Natete market fraud compensation fraud relates to the genuine desire by her husband Isaac Ssaka, a butcher, to become chairperson for Nakasero market. The fallacious claim is that Lukanga is trying to use her position as Kampala RCC to impose her spouse to get the Nakasero market position.
The shrewd Minister, who is out to feud against Aminah Lukanga, has also been defied by the Natete market vendors’ leaders who had been directed to write a letter denouncing genuine land owner Shaka. The Minister intended to use that same letter to corroborate the pro-Kamoga lies which had already been sold to the President who is supposed to prompt the Finance Ministry to prioritize the Natete market compensation which stretches in several billions.
Gen Saleh is equally determined to shield the President against being deceived and duped by a group of politicians and security chiefs who want to lead him into sanctioning some strange compensation in relation to the Bugolobi market which is already KCCA’s. Sources say that desire to circumvent such cunning characters explains why Museveni is now considering using the current Nakivubo Settlement Primary School land to establish the Kampala youth skilling center as opposed to being cajoled into the Kisenyi land deal-where an acre is supposed to go at $10m. This has left the shrewd schemers with an egg on their face though they have vowed not to relent. (For comments on this story, call, text or whatsapp us on 0705579994 [whatsapp line], 0779411734, 0200900416 or email us atmulengera2040@gmail.com).